


falling in silver and gold

by lightningalwaysreturns



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: 57th Expedition, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Canon Compliant, Episode Related, Jearmin Week, M/M, POV Armin Arlert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-08-11 15:22:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20155762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightningalwaysreturns/pseuds/lightningalwaysreturns
Summary: Who had that been, staring down at him with those familiar blue eyes?She'd paused, so deliberately…Before he heard Jean—Right. Jean.





	falling in silver and gold

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for jearmin week 2019 but def posted it like 2 days too late whoops
> 
> takes place bw eps 17-18

Who was that?

His thoughts all tangled together, strings threading through wrong patterns, as he tried to think past a wave of nausea. 

Who had that been, staring down at him with those familiar blue eyes?

She'd _paused_, so _deliberately_…

Before he heard Jean—

Right. Jean. 

Jean had called his name, in the middle of all that mess, clearing through so many threads. 

A lot happened after that. Thoughts of Eren—always, that—the tearing of his own vocal chords, Reiner carting him away like a sack of potatoes.

And, tacked onto the end of it all, the thought that his enemies weren't that far away. 

***

He was grateful to be safe and out of the vicinity of that female Intelligent Titan for now, but Armin's head couldn't take any more jarring jilts and jerks from Reiner. 

"Please," he said. "I think we're fine here."

"Huh?" Reiner slowed to what he probably considered a jog and glanced around the land. His eyes searched the horizon for a moment before he relaxed, setting Armin to his feet. "Here. Get on my horse."

"Huh?" Now it was Armin's turn. 

Reiner's face softened slightly. "We need to find someplace to take care of your injuries. And Jean. Come on."

Right. He must've still been bleeding from the damn face. Armin climbed onto the horse without complaint. 

They found Jean by backtracking for a few minutes, since they weren't running this time. He had sheltered himself behind a long, thick line of trees that shielded him from view. 

"Jean!" Reiner called out. "You okay?"

Jean half-ran up to meet them. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. As far as that whole mess behind us, anyway. I got Armin's horse. What about you two? Armin, you _look_ like a corpse."

Armin sighed weakly and slipped himself from the saddle. He returned the reins and glanced up into Reiner's eyes as he did. "Thanks for earlier. That was some stunt you pulled back there."

Reiner shrugged it off. "Oh, it was nothin'. I'm just glad we all made it out alive. And you shouldn't be the one to talk about pulling stunts."

Armin didn't say anything to that. It'd been reckless, what he'd done, but he'd _known_ he was _right_.

"Go on." Reiner nodded toward Jean over his shoulder. "Have Kirschtein take a look at your head. I'll wrap your head when I'm back from grabbing your gear, all right?"

Threads were tangling together in Armin's head again. His concussion, interfering. He had to pause and hold his head for a moment. 

"You're sure you're okay alone?" he asked. 

"You kidding? Look right over there," Reiner said.

He pointed to the horizon, but Armin could make out the dark outline of his gear silhouetted against the sky when he squinted. 

"I'll be fine," Reiner continued. "You deal with—that."

Armin turned over his shoulder, but he already knew what Reiner meant. Jean had both hands in his hair and had just bowed back to let out a big scream. 

"Are you shitting me?!"

"See ya," Armin said to Reiner, then trotted over to Jean. He got a little dizzy, at first. "What's wrong, Jean?"

"You see what's wrong, genius! Where's my goddamn horse!"

Jean spun and, finding Armin within reach, instantly shifted to taking in the blood all over him.

"And you're injured," Jean said. His voice changed as suddenly as his demeanor had, to something tender and sincere under the crassness. "Here, take a seat. Let me take a look at you, bonehead."

With the wooziness, Armin just wasn't feeling very argumentative. He went to sit on a nearby rock. 

Jean gathered some first-aid supplies from Armin's horse which he had secured earlier. Then he returned, dropped the supplies in front of Armin and squatted down himself. 

Armin's face felt warm. So warm, his whole head felt hot. He couldn't tell if it was the concussion or being so close to Jean, but either way, it was overwhelming at the moment. He opened his mouth to breathe. 

"Hm? You okay?" Jean asked, even as he kept wiping at the blood on Armin's face. There was a lot of it—every cloth Jean pulled away came back covered in thick, shiny red. 

"My head…" Armin said. 

But he stopped. That was wrong. He couldn't really feel the pain in his head that much. 

"Sorry, you're gonna have to wait for Reiner if you need something for your head. He was team leader—I didn't get issued that stuff."

"No…" Armin reached up to grab at Jean's hand wiping the blood on his face. It was distracting him, and he felt like he couldn't breathe past the mess in his head. "Um, I just feel a little cloudy right now… It's kinda hard to think, that's all… Sorry."

A lot had happened in the past hour. Too much to chew on right now, with his head all tossed around at sea with no shore in sight. 

But he knew he'd need to—soon. Those _eyes_—

Jean pulled Armin's attention back to him with a simple lace of their fingers together. "How about… I help you out… with a little kiss?"

Armin dropped his gaze even further. "A kiss?"

"A little one," Jean said. "If it'll help."

A string snapped through the middle of Armin's mind—_yes_. He straightened and brought their linked hands into his lap. 

Jean laughed as he leaned in. "All right, Armin. All right. You know you only have to ask. Jeez…"

They kissed, sitting, hot and uncomfortable, on the ground in the middle of Wall Maria, for so long, and yet not long enough. Armin dipped back first, starry-eyed and a little sweaty under the shady trees, and Jean flushed across the top of his cheeks, giving him away. Both were quiet, happy, calm. 

It was only Reiner riding up with the noisy clang of ODM gear en tow that got the two of them to distance themselves. 

And maybe clear their heads a little bit, too. 

Reiner was out of breath when he stepped down from his saddle. "Hey. Any luck finding your steed?" he asked Jean. 

"Uh, nah. No. No luck yet. I'm gonna… try my luck at giving ’er a whistle. Armin—"

Armin met Jean's gaze. 

"Make sure your head is okay."

"I'll take care of him," Reiner said, hauling over two armfuls of ODM gear. "Come on over, I'll wrap you up nice and tight."

Only through their eyes, Armin and Jean shared a brief laugh. 


End file.
